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Asthma in Children Linked to Cleaning Products Used in Pregnancy

Moms who use more cleaning products when pregnancy have a greater change of having a child with asthma. 7-year-old children were up to 41% more likely to have wheezing or asthma if their moms used a lot of products like bleach or air freshener while pregnant.

It’s hard to resist the nesting urge, and the desire to have everything as clean as possible before baby arrives. If you have to clean, use natural products (like vinegar, and baking soda) when possible, or do things like vacuuming which don’t need chemicals.

Use your domestic energy making and freezing meals, which I wish I had done more. Instead, I had a mania for cleaning the kitchen floor, and lived off takeout and frozen pizza after my son was born.

Do the cleaning that needs to be done, then put your feet up. The best thing you can do is, instead of looking after the house, look after yourself. It’s totally chemical free. Take care of yourself mama!

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Posted by brit on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Health, Pregnancy.
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2 Responses to “Asthma in Children Linked to Cleaning Products Used in Pregnancy”

I absolutely agree that you have to be very careful what you use, not only during pregnancy, but thereafter as well. I have recently been diagnosed asthmatic, and that means both of my children are at additional risk of asthma, from both their father and myself. It’s possible to get very clean without the chemicals. I’ve been using green cleaning products, and I also blog about them as well, down to taking photos of the dishes in my dishwasher 🙂 Some green cleaning products don’t do a good job, but the ones I’ve found are spectacular.

I also agree about moms taking care of themselves. But with 3 cats and the threat of mold from a leaky basement, it’s also important that I clean house. Today was cobweb day. You don’t have to tackle everything at once — just a little at a time gets the job done!

As for the comment “….it would sound like an excuse.” — it would be nice if men took on the burden of cleaning, especially while the woman is pregnant. I’ve had enough of the other half’s excuse of his asthma for why he doesn’t clean: with non-chemical products, he has no excuses anymore. And now I have asthma, too. No more excuses. The house needs to be cleaned, whether or not I’m pregnant, and no matter who has asthma. What needs to go are the chemicals and the attitude problems.